God Help the Outcasts
by DarkraixCresselia
Summary: A What If and regular oneshot crossover. Thrax and Almira visit a church, where he reveals a bit about his past. Song: God Help the Outcasts. The What If is "What if Thrax was taught about God?"


**A/N I own nothing but my OCs**

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Thrax ducked into the building, out of the pouring rain. He brushed his wet dreadlocks back, sighing, as Almira jumped off of his back onto the floor. She shook herself off, and looked up at Thrax curiously. What were they doing in a church?

As if to answer, Thrax pulled something out of his turtleneck sweater and from around his neck. It was another hypothalamus chain, but it didn't have any beads. Instead, it had a black cross with tiny, red glowing jewels on it. Almira cocked her head with a confused grunt.

Smiling, Thrax crouched on one knee and showed his hyena the cross. "Know what this is?" He asked as she sniffed it curiously. "It's a Red Death Cross. Passed down through my family. My mom gave me it." He stared at the small thing with an unusual air of sadness. "She taught me to believe in God. She read the Bible on Sundays, an' gave me a sort of Sunday school, since the church where I lived weren't all that nice; she made me recite verses, an' read me Bible stories. She gave me this cross soon as I was 10, makin' me promise to never lose it, yet give it to any Red Death child I may ever have." He smirked and scoffed slightly at the notion of him ever being a father. Even Almira chuckled a little. "Even though I'm a virus, I still remember those lessons. In the past, when I first started killin', I found out human bodies had better churches than the one back at home. But when I went in one, a white blood cell said churches don't accept viruses. We were monsters, he said; outcasts."

Almira never remembered Thrax being irritated at being called such names. He usually let them bounce off of him. "It pained me." He admitted. "So I never tried again."

"So what made you wish to try now?"

Thrax stood up straight in surprise at the sudden voice; Almira jumped as well. A tall heart cell was standing to the side. He was ruby-red, and wore dark maroon robes, black shoes, and a black cross.

Thrax, who knew better than to kill in a church, shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I just decided to give it a shot?"

The priest chuckled softly. "Well, the Church of Kathryn welcomes anyone, as long as they behave themselves, and don't cause a stir."

"Even viruses?" Thrax asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt.

"Yes, even viruses. I see you have a pure heart, despite the dark times, and your current stature. Perhaps tonight, you could take on the role of a tame virus; a vaccine."

Thrax scoffed softly, smirking in amusement. "Yeah? Well, no one'd believe _that_, b-Father, that I know."

The priest chuckled at the virus's near slip-up, although he felt a touch of pity for his lack of faith. "Well, between you, me and the church," He said, laying a hand on the virus's shoulder. "Perhaps there is someone here who _will_." He nodded in a direction. "And who knows, perhaps there are also viruses who wish to be good, and feel the same as you." He removed his hand from the virus's shoulder and walked off, leaving Thrax and Almira.

Looking in the direction the priest indicated, Thrax saw a statue of a human woman holding a child. He stared up at it with a solemn expression. Almira glanced from him to the statue and back.

Thrax smiled briefly down at the hyena germ, looked back up at the statue, and began singing softly,

_I don't know if You can hear me, __  
__Or if Yer even there.__  
__I don't know if You would listen, __  
__To a virus's prayer.  
__Yes, I know I'm just an outcast; __  
__I shouldn't speak to You.__  
__Still I see Yer face an' wonder: __  
__Were You once an outcast too?_

He crossed himself and slowly walked away. Almira followed close behind. Although he hummed periodically, she had never heard him sing. Frankly, to her, he wasn't bad.

_God help the outcasts, __  
__Hungry from birth._

He walked through an aisle of lit candles. The flames made a glow on his face, creating a beautiful image, despite his stature.

_Show them the mercy, __  
__They don't find elsewhere.  
__God help my people, __  
__We look to You still.__  
__God help the outcasts, __  
__Or nobody will._

He stopped, his eyes following cells walking down past the ends of the pews, holding their hands in prayer and saying,

_I ask for wealth.__  
__I ask for fame.__  
__I ask for glory to shine on my name._

Sighing sadly, and somewhat bitterly, Thrax turned away, Almira following close behind.

_I ask for love, __  
__I can possess._

Thrax leaned back against a pillar, listening to the cell's requests.

_I ask for God and His angels, __  
__To bless me._

Finally, with more strength in his voice, he began singing again,

_I ask fer nothing, __  
__I can get by.__  
__But I know so many, __  
__Less lucky than I._

Almira looked up at him, then sighed softly. Even though she was the pet of a villain, believed to be as evil as he, she knew he spoke truth: somewhere out there, there were cells, germs, even viruses in bigger trouble than them. She was once one of them.

_Please help my people, __  
__The poor an' downtrod.__  
__I thought we all were, __  
__Children of God._

He stood up straight and stepped into a beam of light.

_God help the outcasts, __  
__Children of God._

Thrax then just stood there, staring off into space, still clutching his cross. Almira stood beside him and nudged his hand with her nose. He looked down at her. To her surprise, there were tears in his eyes.

He collapsed on his knees and hugged Almira. She moved her paws onto his shoulders and pressed the side of her head to his neck.

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**A/N This is sort of a cross between a What If and regular oneshot, although I'm not sure whether it should happen before OJ, or between OJ and OJ 2.**

**I wrote it because when I listen to "God Help the Outcasts" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney movie, I wonder how it would be if Thrax felt that way, even a tiny bit. Not everyone is totally evil, or born that way. Something has to happen to them in order for them to turn evil. For Thrax, I think it's not his position as a virus making him evil, but something happening in his past. My theory is he had a loving family, but his dad died, and his step-dad abused and hurt him. Then an Ebola virus killed his family. That would explain his distaste against Ebola.**

**I think the heart would be a good place for a church in the cellular world. It just seems kinda obvious.**

**I obviously changed the lyrics a little to fit Thrax. And I also have the image of him walking beside candles (like Esmeralda in HoND) with an orange/yellow glow to him.**


End file.
